As Internet 1.0 is more mature now, we demand security; thus, the use of SSL certificate (HTTPS) to secure web sites is a common understanding and expectation. With the introduction of Internet 2.0 and the initial phase of centralized cloud, we are awakened by the daunting privacy concerns. Today, our data privacy can be summarized as “trust us, we will safeguard your data.”  We cannot use security to solve privacy; security and privacy are two different dimensions of concerns. To solve privacy, we must give a user or individual the power to reveal data. With the combination of edge computing to users’ home, encryption and blockchain technologies, the advancements of mesh cloud topologies will put the power of privacy into users’ hands. We will continue to see the industry evolve toward to ‘trusted network’ in Internet 2.0, meshed cloud.

Given all the weaknesses and the strengths of Internet 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, one can construct a survival guide to adapt to change. One must understand that the advantages are shifted. The Internet Revolution has already leveled—and will further level—many previously considered advantages. The adaption and rejection rate are inevitable. With Internet Revolution maturity, the technology adaption rate is going to be faster and faster; the same will apply to the technology rejection rate.

Change is also inevitable. The “pick a horse and ride it” era is gone. We must be able to adapt to constant change in life and in work. The environment should be designed to efficiently adapt to changes in all shapes and forms. Access to knowledge has expanded. Our educational system framework was designed based on teaching knowledge to adapt and survive during and immediately following the Industrial Revolution. In the Internet Revolution, the ability to acquire knowledge is at everyone’s fingertips, literally. We must rethink our educational system framework based on learning ability and knowledge availability. The same principle should be applied to innovation. It should not only be focused on technology innovation; we also need to consider service innovation and ideas of how to use technology differently.

The Internet Revolution is shifting our environment to new never-before-seen ground. Its journey has matured automation and orchestration, so RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is an important part of digital transformation. We need to view RPA as a pre-form of Digital Employee. As technology industries mature, Digital Employee will tap into the power of Internet 3.0.

A crucial factor in survival is to know the point in time and space. Knowing the point in time and space in the Internet Revolution as well as being sensitive to the concerns of social responsibility and the education framework are the most important factors to pay attention to. When a company goes through digital transformation, re-educating and re-aligning its workforce is required. Nonetheless, the means are usually through workforce reduction and new hires. Layoff in digital transformation is to shift Enterprise Social Responsibility (ESR) to the society; company will gain reputation through ESR by taking on the responsibilities of workforce re-education and re-alignment.

A company must be ahead of change to adapt to change; waiting for change to settle is akin to watching windows of opportunity pass by. Every change comes with new knowledge to teach and learn; every change introduces a certain amount of unknown. Failure is the best value of the unknown, so it is key to fail fast. We must break through our traditional success-focused and knowledge-based educational framework and allow our next generation of leaders to embrace their learning abilities without boundaries.

Conclusion

Recognize and understand the Internet Revolution. Lead and ride the evolution wave—don’t wait for history to wake you up or pass you by. The impact of the Internet Revolution is larger and deeper than we think. We see evidence that the Internet Revolution creates brand-new opportunities as it revolutionizes the agricultural and industrial industries. We must re-evaluate our advantages with the Internet Revolution in mind and reposition for the future, as individuals, families, societies, countries, and companies.